Stolen Moments
by Gryffen Gal
Summary: Five years ago, Carina Morley woke up in a hospital with no memory of the past several months. With her daughter now showing magical abilities, Carina is welcomed into a world she's not supposed to remember and reintroduced to a man who never wanted her to forget.


Stolen Moments

by Gryffen Gal

Summary: Six years ago, Carina Morley woke up in a hospital with no memory of the past several months. With her daughter now showing magical abilities, Carina is welcomed into a world she's not supposed to remember and reintroduced to a man who never wanted her to forget.

Introduction

"Professor," Remus found himself lost for words. Of all the people to find on his doorstep that Sunday morning, his old headmaster was not one of them.

He hadn't seen Professor Dumbledore since Voldemort had fallen six years ago. The Order of the Phoenix had been disbanned soon after Voldemort's followers were put on trial. The last time Remus had seen his headmaster was in regards to Harry's new guardians. Although Dumbledore was vague on the details, he reassured Remus that Harry was well-protected and safe with Lily's relatives.

Dumbledore looked the same as he always did, although he seemed much lighter than Remus had ever remembered him being. The weight of Voldemort being lifted seemed to remove years, if that was possible, from him. "Please, come in."

"Hello Remus." Dumbledore smiled, looking around the tiny cottage. "It's been years since I've been your professor, it's Albus, please."

It was odd, Remus decided, seeing his old headmaster so calming standing in his home. His bright purple robes standing in stark contrast to the earth tones of his kitchen."Can I get you anything – tea perhaps?"

"Yes, that would be nice." Dumbledore casually said, as if they were old friends who regularly had tea together.

Before long, Remus was pouring hot water from the kettle into two mismatched mugs. Trying not to sluash the hot liquid over the sides of the mug, he set them down on the table in front of his guest. "Professor, if I may, what brings you here?"

Dumbledore's keen blue eyes glittered over the top of the Athens mug Remus had handed to him. "You were seeing a girl during the war, as I recall, Carina? Have you seen her since?"

Remus stiffened as the memories of that particular name had haunted him for years. He had put Carina in so much danger just by being with her.

_"Remus, I'm so sorry," _he could hear the echoes of Lily Potter's voice, as if it had happened yesterday. _"There's been an attack, Carina – "_

"No, no," Remus said, rather dazed at the topic. "After we found her, the Ministry wanted to modify her memory. It was safer to let her forget me."

The death eaters were killing and torturing muggles for sport. When they had discovered that an order member had fallen in love with a muggle, it must have been too good an opportunity to give up. Remus never did find out who had been behind her kidnapping and the days that followed it. The ministry wasn't particularly keen on going after every witch or wizard who tortured muggles during the war. Remus suspected Sirius Black at least had some part to play in it, being one of the few people who had known about Remus' relationship with Carina.

"Have you checked up on her at all?" Why Dumbledore was suddenly so curious about the girl he dated six years ago, Remus didn't have a clue. But inside him, guilt was starting to churn as he prepared for some horrible news.

"I was, until you-know-who fell, after that I thought she was safe. She moved out of London, her friends said she didn't feel safe after what happened. Not that she remembered, I think they told her she had been attacked by a robber? Why, has something happened?"

It was a little more than that. Carina had been attacked about a month or so before Voldemort was defeated, and after being released from the hospital, Remus doubted that she'd be safe. So he had been sneaking into her apartment building to charm the building to alert him of any magical activity. The tenants were concerned that a strange man appeared to be stalking Carina. They must have warned her, because she moved out quickly after he was caught.

"It appears she had a daughter, about five years old. Yesterday she had a little burst of accidental magic." Dumbledore smiled.

It could be purely coincidental. Carina could have easily found herself a nice husband and moved on. She would have had little to move on from, being that she didn't remember any of their relationship. But the timing was a bit too close, and what were the chances of Carina and a muggle man having a _magical_ daughter? Was it possible? They had dated for over a year before he was forced to let her return to the muggle world.

And if their daughter was magical, then Carina could be told everything from the beginning. It wasn't possible, was it? He doubted he could really be so lucky to have that. "I don't understand, Professor are you saying – "

"Curious, I thought, that there was no Ariel Morley on the roster for the 1993 Hogwarts class. There is, however, an Ariel Lupin. A simple blood test would confirm, but the list has never been wrong before."

Dumbledore held out the small vial of blood. Remus could barely remember to breathe as he looked at the very first tangible proof that he could have a daughter. A family was a long forsaken dream he once had. He had been so young and naive at the time. James and Sirius and Peter had befriend him, Carina had loved him, the Order had employed him - but it had all gone so horribly wrong within a month. And the six years since had taught him the overdue exile that his kind truly faced.

Dumbledore added several drops of the precious liquid to the parchment Remus had handed him. "_Pater revelio_," Dumbledore pointed his wand at the spilt blood. The drops began to rearrange themselves until they revealed the words _Remus John Lupin_.

"It would appear, Remus, that you have a daughter. A healthy, happy, beautiful five-year-old daughter. I believe congratulations are in order."


End file.
